


Waiting

by Joir3C (orphan_account)



Category: GOT7
Genre: Anorexia, Eating Disorders, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-13 21:00:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11768283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Joir3C
Summary: Mark was insecure. So Jackson waited.





	1. Jackson Waited

When he was three, Jackson's family moved to America. Jackson's father got a job teaching fencing at a private school, and they said that Jackson could attend school there, for free. Which worked really well, since Jackson's parents would never have been able to afford it otherwise.

Jackson's new house was right next to the school, literally. It took only twenty seconds to walk there. Because they were next to the school, they only had one neighboring house. The family that lived in that house had a son the same age as Jackson.

Jackson got along with the boy really well, despite them being complete opposites. The boy's name was Mark, and he was really shy. He enjoyed watching documentaries on the Animal Channel and having his mom read him stories about famous scientists. Jackson, on the other hand, couldn't sit still for his life. Jackson made friends with everyone he saw. Jackson took fencing lessons three times a week. Jackson loved playing with his dog and climbing trees.

Somehow, though, they clicked. Mark was older than Jackson by four months, and Jackson was the only one that Mark invited to his fourth birthday party. In fact, Jackson was the only one Mark invited to his birthday party for the next ten years. They were inseperatable. Mark would sit under a tree and read while Jackson would climb the tree. Mark would take a nap on the porch swing while Jackson would play fetch with his dog. They were opposites, but they did everything together.

Somehow, they always ended up in the same class, too. Because of the close proximity to the school, Mark also attended the private school that Jackson's dad worked at. Mark's family had a lot of money, being able to send him there, but Mark and Jackson never seemed to notice their families' financial differences. It didn't matter to them.

When they were twelve, Jackson got bumped to the highschool fencing team. He was so proud, that year. Mark was proud of him, too. Jackson was really good at fencing. Jackson increased his number of practices from three times a week to five, and Jackson and Mark didn't spend as much time together that year.

Being in middle school, everyone seemed to care about things that didn't matter. Though they saw each other less, Mark and Jackson seemed to get closer. Mark really didn't have any other friends, and though Jackson was amazing at fencing, he didn't get close to anyone, despite the amount of girls that tried to flirt with him. When he had been young, everyone had been amiable with him, but now the preteen boys in his class picked on him, because he was 'stealing their crushes' away from them. They started picking on Jackson, calling him fat. Yes, he weighed 120 pounds, but he wasn't anywhere near fat. He had tons of muscle from ten years of fencing. He didn't let it get him down, though, and he continued to pour all that he had into fencing.

Mark was constantly amazed at how strong Jackson was compared to him. Not just physically, but mentally. Jackson keept working hard even when people looked down on him. Mark wasn't called fat the way Jackson was, but he too was bullied during those middle school years. Nerd and geek were some common insults, though some people accused him of putting on a front and saying that he was really a closet pervert. What did that even mean? He just liked to read nonfiction books! Where did they even get that? It got especially bad when he hit puberty, because he gained a little bit of weight. They called him fat, but he didn't even gain that much! He weighed in at the 45th percentile for his age, which the doctor said was on the lower end of average! He weighed less than some if the bullies! Even though he knew they were wrong, every word was like a needle in his heart. Jackson stood up for him when he could, but Jackson wasn't always there, and sometimes Mark cried, the words were so mean. Mark even got hit a couple of times, but never on the face, so no one really noticed. Mostly they liked hitting him in the stomach, or dunking his head in the toilet. It got to the point where Mark stopped eating because he was scared that they would hit him so hard, he would throw up, and Jackson would find out he was being bullied. Which was a shame, because Mark really liked food.

When they were thirteen, they started making other friends. Jackson and Mark were still Number 1 BFFs, but their exclusive circle grew wider. Mark started volunteering at the school library, and met Jaebum and Jinyoung, two dorky fraternal twins that also loved books. Jackson started hanging out with a few the kids on some of the school's other sports teams, Youngjae, Bambam, and Yugyeom. They all did different sports, but they all enjoyed phisical activity, and saw each other often at the gym. They went from a group of two to a group of seven, and it wasn't that bad at all. Jackson continued to excell at fencing, and not eating had become a habit for Mark.

When they were fourteen, Jackson was invited to the varsity fencing team. He was ecstatic, and for two whole months, that was all that he talked about. He weighed 135 pounds now, but everyone else had gained some weight, too, so it didn't seem to matter much. Mark, though, was still 94 pounds. Jackson had always been bigger than Mark, despite being younger, but now Jackson was scared that if he hugged Mark, or even gave him a pat on the back, he would snap in half. Jackson started to notice it at Mark's fourteenth birthday party.

The whole group was there, all seven, making this the first time that people besides Jackson had been invited to Mark's house. Mark had always had cake at his birthdays, and he had always eaten a piece, even if he was sick, or full from lunch. This year, though, he avoided cake like the plage. Jackson thought at first that Mark just wasn't used to this big of a party, but they had all hung out together before, and Mark had been fine. He asked Mark about it, and Mark said he had a bit of a stomach bug. Being a stupid fourteen year old, Jackson believed him. The matter was dropped from Jackson's mind, and he forgot about it for a whole three weeks until he noticed Mark not eating again during lunch one day. Once again, Mark claimed to have a stomach bug, but Jackson didn't forget this time. Mark ate well the next day, though, so Jackson dropped the matter.

Mark had stopped being bullied after everyone had gotten into eighth grade, since everyone had to study a lot now, and no one had time to pick on Mark for something that everyone was doing anyways. And he had grown really tall, losing all of the preteen chub that he had when he was twelve. But the words from the past had hung around like unwanted shadows, and Mark didn't know how to turn on the light. He could find temporary solace from hanging out with Jackson, but they were both so busy now, that it wasn't such a quick fix anymore. He would see Jackson on the way to school, but the rest of the time, they were either in class or Jackson was at fencing practice. Mark hung out with their other friends, but he was starting to get really lonely.

When they were fifteen, Jackson started noticing Mark's strange behavior more and more. They didn't see each other often, but Jackson knew that Mark used to eat more than just an orange for breakfast and lunch combined, and that normal teenage boys weighed more than 100 pounds even. Mark was also staring into thin air more than usual, not because he was lost in though, but because he was so tired that he couldn't think at all. Jackson tried to make more time in his schedule for Mark, going over to his house straight after fencing practice to study together. It was then that he started to get worried. Mark had never liked running around, but he loved sitting outside to study. It calmed him. But now Jackson noticed that he sat in his room with the curtains drawn while he studied. Mark was also getting seriously pale, and now he only weighed 92 pounds..

It was two months from Mark's sixteenth birthday, six months from Jackson's. Mark was at Jackson's house that day, sitting on Jackson's bed while Jackson tried to find out what kind of birthday party he wanted. It was that day when Jackson noticed Mark had a bruise on his arm. He questioned Mark about it, but Mark had no idea how it got there. He claimed that he must have bumped it against the counter in the kitchen the other day. It was almost black against Mark's paper white skin, and Jackson couldn't believe him this time. Jackson had asked their friends to keep an eye on Mark, but Mark didn't talk to anyone much anymore, so Jackson couldn't be sure what was wrong, but he wouldn't stop pestering Mark with questions. Was it bullies? Was it his parents? Did he do it to himself? Was he eating right? Mark seemed to shrink with every question, but at the last one, he stood up and yelled at Jackson. Was it really any of his business? Didn't Jackson trust him? He hit it on the counter, goddamnit! Why couldn't Jackson believe him?

Mark left Jackson's house that day, and didn't go back.

Jackson didn't see Mark for a week. Mark got up early so that he wouldn't run into Jackson on the way to school, and he was never in the lunch room. Finally, Jackson couldn't stand worrying any longer. He got up at five in the morning, and sat on the porch, waiting. Sure enough, two hours before school started, he saw Mark leave the house. Mark didn't notice him, not until Jackson came up behind him and pull him into a hug. Mark tensed up immediately, and tried to break free. Jackson, though, was strong.

"Why are you doing this?"

Mark started crying, but they weren't tears of sadness. Why? What was he doing that he needed to explain himself? Why couldn't Jackson just understand? Hadn't he been bullied, too? Maybe the tears were of sadness, after all, he thought.

Jackson hadn't meant for Mark to start crying, but through the hug, he could feel Mark's ribs painfully sharp and he could guess what whas going on. Keeping a firm grip on Mark, Jackson led the way into the house. Jackson though that if his parents weren't both at work already, Mark would have somehow outpowered him and ran away. It was a good thing they were early risers.

Once they were in Jackson's room, Mark started telling him everything. Every detail, every bully, every punch, every skipped meal. By the time he was finished, they were both crying. Jackson had no idea how to deal with the situation, and neigher did Mark. What do you do when you confess your depression and anorexia nervosa to your fifteen year old best friend? How do you help your friend out of this kind of situation?

Since they didn't know what to do, they sat and cried. They didn't go to school that day. Mark cried until he fell asleep, and once he had tucked Mark in, Jackson got on the internet. After looking up eating disorders on tge internet, he still didn't know what to do. He'd seen all kinds of therapy on the internet, but he had no idea how to approach the issue. Would Mark be okay with him telling Jackson's parents? What about their other friends? Wikipedia had mentioned family therapy worked best, but Mark's parents were usually gone on international business for up to 32 months of the year, they wouldn't be around enough to make a difference. How severe was Mark's condition, exactly? Did Jackson need to call the hospital? How much was someone like Mark supposed to weigh? 110? 120? Even more tgan that? Mark wasn't athletic, so he didn't need to weight 150 like Jackson, surely. But he was tall. And Wikipedia mentioned that he couldn't just start shoving food down Mark's throat, either. What kind of meal plan did Mark need to have? Did Mark need to see a counselor? And these questions only covered the anorexia nervosa, how did you treat depression?

Jackson thought all day, taking notes and searching through help sites. He didn't know how efective any of these things were going to be, but he had to try something.

Mark woke up at around three in the afternoon with a headache. He recognized that he was in Jackson's room, but he couldn't recall how he got there and it hurt to try and think, so he laid there for about twenty minutes. Eventually the pain subsided, and he remembered what had taken place that morning. He felt scared. What had he done? Jackson knew everything, now. Who knew what Jackson would do. Where was Jackson, now that he thought about it? He started to sit up slowly, praying that his headache wouldn't come back. He opened the doir to Jackson's room, and tiptoed down tge hall. Peeking into the living room, he saw Jackson sitting on the couch, staring at the ceiling, surrounded by at least twenty pages of paper, all filled with tiny words. Jackson noticed him almost imnediately, sitting straight and beckoning Mark over. Mark went slowly, cautious at first, and hesitated to sit down. But Jackson didn't look mad, and Jackson patted the couch cusion next to him, so Mark sat down obediantly.

Jackson sat for a minute, shuffling papers together, flipping through his notes. Mark figited, awkward around Jackson for the first time in his life. Eventually, Jackson cleared his throat. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse.

He told Mark about how he wanted to help Mark start eating again, how much he wanted for Mark to be healthy. And how it was his business that Mark was having depression, because they weren't just friends anymore, they were brothers. Mark started crying again, and Jackson quickly started explaining his research, the different kinds of treatment that helped people like Mark, and eventually, Mark stopped crying. He did his best to pay attention to Jackson, but his headache was back since he'd been crying, and eventually he drifted off again.

When Jackson saw that Mark was asleep, he tried to smile. Mark must have been really tired. But after a few minutes, Mark's breathing was kind of shallow, and Jackson started panicking. Was that normal? Was Mark asleep, or passed out? Could something be wrong with him? Jackson almost smacked himself when he thought that. He felt for Mark's pulse, relieved when it was still there but panicking again when it got wild and erratic. Jackson ran to the kitchen, grabbing the handset and dialing 911. When the phone picked up, he tried to stay calm as he explained the situation. The man on the other end of the phine asked him his name, Mark's name, their location, and the handset phone number. Then he was asked to explain what was going on. Mark had anorexia, Mark passed out, Mark's pulse was crazy. The lady said that an ambulance was on the way, and hung up.

Then, Jackson waited.


	2. Mark Froze

When Jackson's parents came home that night, they were met with an empty house. Figuring that Jackson was staying at Mark's house, they weren't very worried. But when they got a call an hour later from Mark's parents, panicking because their precious baby boy was in the hospital and they were 13 hours away by flight, Jackson's parents became seriously worried. They drove up to the hospital, the one that Mark was at. When they got to the emergency room waiting room, they found their son sitting amongst all of the other frantic parents, tears on his cheeks, not looking anywhere but his feet.

They later found out that due to the anorexia nervosa, Mark had a severe case of hypokalemia. Simply, he had extremely low amounts of potassium in him body. The hospital kept him on a saline drip overnight, and the next morning, they moved him to the pediatric ward of the hospital, where the doctors did their best to get Mark's weight up by at least a few pounds over the next two weeks. Mark was visibly shaken when he heard that he would be staying in the hospital, but he still agreed to it, which in the doctors eyes, was a good sign. Mark became extremely anxious, however, when they told him that he wouldn't be able to receive visitors the first couple of days in the pediactric ward. His parents had arrived just an hour earlier, and hadn't gotten in to see him yet. And Jackson and Jackson's parents had been at the hospital this whole time, now he had to leave them? Mark continued to get worked up, and he didn't really pay much attention to the doctors and counselors who tried to talk to him. He didn't want to be here, not if he had to be alone. But he'd already given his consent earlier, and because of that he stayed.

Mark got out after that second week. He was 100 pounds even, and his parents had taken the next few months off of work to stay home with him. He hadn't seen Jackson or his parents- no one was allowed in except for family, and even then, only on weekends and Wednesdays. His parents had set him up with a therapist twice a week, one of which his parents would attend and one of which he would go alone. The doctors had given him a diet plan to reintroduce healthy eating to his body. The only pills he had to take were for his potassium deficiency. Mark was all set on the road to recovery.

The only thing Mark was worried about was going back to school. He had no idea what all of his friends had been told, how they would react, and he had two weeks worth of school to catch up on. Hopefully Jaebum or Jinyoung had been taking notes. Finals were in just over a month, he couldn't afford to get behind. He needed to go back to class, but that reminded him, what did everyone at school know? Had anyone been told why he was in the hospital?

Mark's parents kept him home for the next week, spending every second of every day and night making up for all the time lost with their baby. They hadn't seemed to realize that traveling all the time put a strain on their relationship with Mark, but now that they were aware, they were doing everything possible to get close to him again. Mark was suspicious of them, wondering if they were just getting close because of his hospitalization. Had he not been caught, would they have ever tried to get close to him again? He didn't like it, but he didn't push them away.

Jackson visited everyday, before and after school. He ate breakfast and dinner at Mark's house, making sure that Mark was following the diet plan that the doctors had given him. Mark remembered back when they were in middle school, he would go over to Jackson's to eat dinner everyday, back in the beginning when he still ate dinner. It was different now, though, because they were at Mark's house and it was Mark's parents cooking, but besides that, eating with Jackson was the same now as it was then. Mark was glad of that. During that week Mark also got all day to work on the make up work from school, spending almost every hour studying until he felt as if he hadn't missed any school at all. Finals were now a month away, and Mark was ready.

Something that Mark had forgotten in the hospital, but Jackson remembered, was Mark's sixteenth birthday. He still wasn't sure what Mark wanted as a gift, but Mark had mentioned a Harry Potter movie marathon several months ago when the last movie came out and it had never happened. While Mark had been in the hospital, Jackson had gotten all of the movies, the last one from Redbox, and discussed with Mark's parents if their other friends should be invited. Mark had spent the last three weeks around almost no one, they didn't want to over stimulate him, but Jackson thought it would be good for Mark to get to see his friends after going so long away from them. Jackson though for a long time about this, before coming to a decision.

The next day, when Mark woke up, Jackson was staring at him. Mark wasn't sure whether to scream or sigh, so he just stared. Jackson stared back for a minute, before grinning.

"Happy Birthday!"

Mark's eyes widened slightly, and he sat up quickly. Jackson almost fell off the bed trying to avoid getting headbutted. Mark almost laughed, but stopped himself. He needed to know what Jackson had planned for his birthday. He didn't like surprises. Unfortunately, Jackson loved them, and all Mark knew was that breakfast this morning was eggs and bacon and he didn't need to bother getting dressed, because they weren't going out. Mark and Jackson played cards most of the morning, after breakfast and cleaning up the kitchen. Jackson lost most of the time, which made it fun for Mark. Jackson wined and complained, but couldn't say no to a rematch, so the pattern repeated for several hours. Because of the laid back morning, the last thing Mark expected to hear was the doorbell ringing. Especially since he hadn't seen any of his other friends since he'd gotten out of the hospital, and even more so since he hadn't asked about any of them either.

Mark froze.


End file.
